To on the move Dall and Deep speed list Peace do hell Peas Do from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. He's got my advans in the playoffs.
What is up, Dolphans and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield And on today's show, we have officially made it to week number one of the twenty twenty four NFL season. But before we get into the preview content later on this week, we're going to catch you up on the latest around the team, including a contract extension for head coach Mike McDaniel. We'll also hear from coach on the offensive line as well as Lester Cotton and Leah Mikenberg, who had some really
good media availabilities last week in open locker Room. I want to go ahead and share some of those chats with you guys as we break down that group heading into the season. Plus the practice squad continues to round into shape and the roster in general. I have some thoughts on some of the newcomers and guys I'm big fans of their game and what they offer. And last but not least. The Fish Tank Iconic series debuts tomorrow
night on the Dolphins YouTube channel at seven o'clock. We're gonna get Seth and Juice here on the podcast talk about that project and what all went into that amazing piece of content and of course that amazing game back in nineteen ninety four when the Dolphins down the Patriots on opening Day. From the Baptist Hill Studios inside the Baptist Hills Training Complex. This is.
The Drive Time podcast.
That's another Miami.
Dolphins big news over the weekend, or actually really it came out right after our Friday podcast published. The head coach Mike McDaniel has a contract extension that we'll keep them with the team through at least twenty twenty eight. A coach, of course, coach has produced some of the most fun football teams of a Dolphins fan of a age, his entire life. I mean, we've had this conversation on
the show before. It was twenty five years between top ten offenses for your Miami Dolphins, and they've built this
thing pretty quickly here under head coach Mike McDaniel. He, of course, with his quarterback have a long term extension in place, so they should be tied together for the foreseeable future and the continuity this provides, not just from a head coaching standpoint, but what he's developed on the offensive staff with Frank Smith being here, Darryl Bevill, Eric Studisville, with John Embry, Butch Berry, Wes Welker, all these guys have really built up some time here and you figure
or hope that can continue into the future. And of course, you know, if you're successful enough, you might lose some of those coaches. But I think going into this year, you've kind of learned the value of continuity on your coaching staff, something that Dolphins, especially offensively, just have not
had in a very long time. You've heard players give their testimonials about, you know, head coach Mike McDaniel and how they love playing for him, they respond to him, and I think that you can kind of, you know, etch that back to proof with regards to people loving the Dolphins' entire makeup and program and wanting to be here. When you look at the free agent acquisitions and the
guys that have lined up to come down here. I mean Kalaias Campbell has spoken many times about taking less money to come play for his hometown team and how excited he is to play for the new head coach. You look at a player like Odell Beckham coming down here for you know, similar reasons, talking about taking less to come play for the Dolphins and the role that he can have in their offense. Getting Tyreek Hill here. He wanted to be here, you know, as bad as
anybody else. It just up and down the roster, you have players that wanted to be here to play for head coach Mike McDaniel, Jalen Ramsey last year, Kendall Fuller, and how fortunate we are to have this guy, you know, back to back winning seasons, back to back playoff seasons here under coach. So let's go ahead and spend this thing forward to coach McDaniel, who spoke about his contract extension and Monday's media availability.
The congratulations goes to the to the organization. I think you there's a lot of people that live you up to give you the opportunity to become a head coach. But once you become a head coach for for that program to sustain, that takes each and every person involved in it. So I see that's an accomplishment as a for the organization, and there was a neat moment, as you'd phrase it. It was I had dinner over at a mister Rossi's house a couple of weeks ago, so it was a great dinner.
I ate all of my steak I did, I did.
They gave me minimal so they anticipated that.
But I don't need.
Man talk about a great offseason. McDaniel, Tua, Tyreek Waddle all getting either extensions or pay raises that I should attach them to the team for for the foreseeable future. So the things that have produced these top ranked offenses, they ain't going anywhere, and that's true, be very exciting
for all Dolphins fans everywhere. Also, we have had a lot of roster shakeups since our initial fifty three man roster was announced, and you know this could even change as we go live here on the show when this produces, because it's a league of constant change and roster turnover. But I want to go ahead and update you guys on the latest practice squad for the Miami Dolphins, because I think last week talked we had like eight or nine players on that list and now it's rounding into form.
So here's what it looks like.
As of this taping, Tim Boyle, Robbie Chosen is back, and he is a receiver that was with us last year, who knows the offense, who spent time with the forty nine ers this offseason in a similar offense, and I think that kind of validates, you know, Chosen's ability to find his footing within the system. For a guy like Kyle Shanahan to say, you were in a similar offense last year and we think you can come here and
be productive. Of course, he doesn't make the opening day roster for them and winds up back on the Dolphins practice squad in his you know, former stomping grounds where he grew up in the state of Florida. So he comes back to give the Dolphins some depth on the practice squad, along with Eric Azukama, who did not make the initial fifty three, but he's back in that same capacity.
And then another receiver that I wanted to put some notes on here because I was a huge fan of his coming out of Western Michigan is d Es Gridge and he did not have, you know, the career that I'm sure he wanted to have with the Seattle Seahawks, and here he finds himself on the Dolphins practice squad.
But when you think about his game and what he features and what makes him a prominent prospect or didn't make him a prominent prospect, I should say it's a lot of the stuff that the Dolphins ask of their receivers here and with him and Aszukama and Grant Dubos, you can kind of see the thinking behind the depth in the receiver's room as we know, work to get River Craycraft back and eventually Odell Beckham Junior as well.
And you saw the last two years, you know, Tua or rather Tyreek and Waddell, they come out and they get some rep some rest in between their reps because all the motions and vertical routes they run, it's a lot of running and it's a lot of conditioning that goes into that and to keep them fresh and to
keep them available for them. As many many vertical routes they run, the Dolphins like to swap in a rotate receivers and you can oftentimes do that down in the red area when you're looking at you know, some run heavy type of situations with your offense. And I think that when you think about some of the swapouts they've had for for Reak and Waddle down there, it's been like Cedric Wilson, it's been River Craycraft. It's been these
guys that are really exceptional run blockers. And that's exactly what I see with both Grant Dubos and d s Gridge. Let's go ahead and we'll get to Dobos here in one second, but es Gridge on top of that, he has really exceptional balance and a good center of gravity that keeps him through contact and keeps him on his
feet through contact. And I think that with what that can do from a blocking standpoint and a ball carrier standpoint, it's you know, it's akin to what John hus Smith offers in the sense of when you send him across the formation, it could be as a blocker, but it could also.
Be as a ball carrier.
And that just gives defenses against an offense that does this as well as anybody else in the National Football League. It gives them that extra fraction of a second of pause, which creates urgency to get to the perimeter, which creates overplay, which creates an opportunity for McDaniel to create a playoff
of that is not enough creation for you guys. But that's the thinking I think with receivers like this, and especially with Grant Dubo's who you pull up his tape from the preseason or you go back to Charlotte in college. I'm not so sure he's not the best run blocking receiver in the entire program right now. I mean, go back and watch his clips for the Packers last year or in this preseason. I should say he was hitting some down blocks where he wiped dudes out and he
was bodying them up. And you know, I watched the Colorado and North Dakota State game on Thursday night. What a great game that was. By the way, Travis Hunter is an absolute star. I think Shouder Sara's gonna be pretty good too. But I was watching some of the plays where they'd get runs to the second level and the receivers didn't really have much of an interest in
hitting blocks at that level. And it reminds me of the coaching Clint that McDaniel once did where he discussed, you know, this is a key element of our offense. And this is when he was in San Francisco, like, we can have four yard runs if you guys want. But if we're going to hit explosives in the running game like we want, we better have some blockers on the edge that hold their blocks and create those opportunities for our backs when they do find room at the
second level. And that's what Debos looks like to me. On top of that, he is a very very good contested catch guy. He's not going to create a ton of separation, or at least that's not why he's been
so far in his career and in college. But I think back to that go route, that quick read, you know, vertical shot to River Craycraft that Twa threw for the touchdown on his loan preseason possession back against the Commanders a few weeks back, and it's a similar look to what I've seen from Grant to Bosa's film, where he's the boundary receiver, the X receiver right the short side of the field and all the overplay that you get from the atten created on the front side of the
formation from Reeke and Waddle, from Johnavis Smith and Von Hham. You put your big body X in the backside and if they roll coverage to create a one on one situation over there, it's a good look for two or to throw into and he makes a lot of those catches when he gets those looks. So I think there's a clear fit for a role on this team. Not to mention what he offers as a special teamer because
he busts his butt down. There's you know, they don't have the wedge anymore, but if they did, he is a classic wedge buster, a guy that can run through blocks and go get a punt returner or a kick returner to the ground in quick succession.
So I am a huge, huge.
Fan of this grant to boast addition to the back end of your receiving Corps Special teams value and really really good work in the running game, which is for a guy that you know in that position typically you think like eight twelve, maybe fifteen snaps in a game. Hey man, if that's what we need from you, to go run one takeof from that boundary position for that ex position and go hit one key block on a raheem most of our touchdown run.
That's value.
And I know we were talking about practice squad there and got kind of sidetracked. Let's go ahead and go back to the practice squad here, because granted to both is on the fifty three man roster, so Tim Boyle, who comes over from the Jets. He had time in the system previously when he was with the Green Bay Packers under Matt Lafleur. I shouldn't say the system, but an offshoot of the system or a similar branch of the scheme mentioned. Robbie chosen d s Gridge. Jordan Colbert,
the safety, had a nice preseason. He comes back on the practice squad. Eric Azukama Jonathan Harris is a guy that I think is in line to get in season elevations because I thought he showed pretty well in the preseason. Has a clear fit in this defense for what he can do up front. Chasing Hines comes back to the practice squad. To Kwan Jackson was a late addition to the Dolphins roster in training camp. He does enough in his short time to earn a spot on the practice squad.
And Isaiah Johnson is a cornerback that I think can play at this level. His length when you watch him walk around at practice, he can scratch his knees just ending straight up. He has insane length and physicality. I think that tracks with you know what you need at the position in today's NFL, So I'm looking forward to
watching his career develop here. And then one more guy I wanted to kind of break down for you is Nakuon Jones, the newcomer from Arizona, a nose tackle who eat up a lot of space, eats up a lot of blocks, and has a very quick first step with the ability to kind of stack and shed. And you heard Chris Greer talk about how excited he was to add Nakwon Jones back at his press conference last week.
I think this is a guy in a defense that you know, from Anthony Weaver's perspective last year in Baltimore, what did he have alongside justin Matdebuke, but someone like Michael Pierce who's three hundred and fifty pounds, but Nito Jones kind of fits that mold a true nose tackle.
I think Nakwon Jones is the next best nose tackle on this team, where Brandon Peely and the like kind of you know, can play some nose but I think they're best suited for you know, one shades and three techniques and kind of kicking further out in the formation defensively. So very excited about that. We also have Nick Needham coming back to the practice squad. What a great veteran
addition he is. You lose a player in the secondary for a game, what a great option to have off your practice squad for elevation, to come help you on special teams, to come be a sub package, you know, safety or cornerback because he can do both of those roles. Very very valuable piece of the practice squad here. And then of course tight end Hayden Rucci on the practice
squad after a strong preseason. And then the three most recent additions of the Dolphins practice squad linebacker William Bradley King, tackle Anderson Hardy, and running back Generic Prince. And that leaves one more spot open. As of this taping, we'll get you guys updated on the sixteen member of the Dolphins practice squad, plus bidro Matt Doos who is the International Pathway exemption position as the seventeenth man who cannot play this year. He will be here all year getting
some work in developing his game. So there you go, break number one right there. Let's come back on the other side and talk about this Dolphins offensive line. I have some great quotes from head coach Mike McDaniel also talked to Liam Eichenberg and Lester Cotton in the locker room. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by AutoNation. Segment number two take us back into a hot topic surrounding this Dolphins football team this year.
And you know, the results are the results, and they speak for themselves for this Dolphins offense. And I know it's been much bandied about on social media and the like about the investment into the Dolphins offensive line, which if you take a look at the tackle position between toront Armstead as a free agent, between Austin Jackson's contract extension last year, between drafting a tackle in the second round of Patrick Paul who has the look of a
real potential long term freak in this offense. As to Ron Armstead coined it earlier in training camp, this offense allows tackles to feel like playmakers, and it looks to me like Patrick Paul has the look of a playmaker at that left tackle position. Kendall Lamb gets a free agent or a returning contract, I should say, coming back to the Miami Dolphins, so they really invested in that spot.
They went out and got Aaron Brewer as well. They've invested in developing players on the offensive line, which I think is going to be a critical piece of.
How this whole thing comes together.
And you know, I've talked about the Alex Gibbs coaching clinic in the nineties at that Marriott and Unknown locations where he talks about how this offensive system, he was the O line coach for the Denver Broncos under Mike Shanahan, how we value the position unlike anybody else in the NFL, look for different traits than anybody else in the NFL.
And you know, covered those Broncos offensive lines that were full of seventh and tenth round draft picks and undrafted free agents up and down the board, that didn't have a single draft pick ahead of the third round, on that team that won back to back champions It's championships. It has been a long tried and true method of how this whole thing is built, how it operates, based
upon that continuity and consistency of that group. And you can look at, you know, the forty nine Ers offensive line right now with Trent Williams there or not, It's a similar looking build, a similar looking concept. It's mostly you know, day three picks and guys they spent time developing in their program that they feel offered them value compared to the rest of the league, and I think that you can really extrapolate from them and.
See where they're going with that concept.
And you know, I keep seeing this relevant comment or pertinent comment I should say on social media about all the teams that go deep in the playoffs are built for the offensive line, and I just I don't know where that sentiment comes from, because I looked at the forty nine Ers offensive line that started the Super Bowl last year, and there was a bunch of guys that great in the back half of their position groups on
Pro Football Focus. Now, does Pro Football Focus have the exact, you know, scheme and assignment type of knowledge the Niners do for what works for their offensive line.
Probably not. And that's why I think that, you know, taking a.
Look at that from a general perspective, as the rest of the league look at the offensive line play and analysis looks at the offensive line play and PFF grades, you kind of have to do it differently because it's coached and it's taught, and it's ran differently here in Miami. So I think it's worth touching on that to go
back to more examples. Look at the twenty twenty one Bengals offensive line and that Super Bowl Four of the five guys are are not on like first team rosters right now, and half of them are.
On practice squad.
So I just push back on that sentiment that you have to build a team a certain way. I think it's been proven time and time again that you don't have to prioritize the trenches first.
Above all, I.
Think this team has done a good job of building a roster that has the second most top one hundred players in the National Football League, and those are scattered across the premium positions in the National Football League. Right quarterback, receiver, left tackle, cornerback, edge rusher. Those are the five premium spots. That's where the Dolphins really invests the most in as you look at this roster, and it's paid off for
them in a big way. So I just wanted to get that diatribe out there ahead of some commentary here from head coach Mike McDaniel, who first talked about his confidence on the offensive line. We'll come back and hear from him on what I think is one of the most important aspects of this group is the continuity and development of the guys that they have invested in on the offensive line. First, here's Coach on his confidence in this Miami offensive line.
I feel very confident in where we're at from the offensive line position, and that confidence comes from all not twenty twenty three or or a version that maybe people are exposed to. I'm talking about twenty twenty four of these individuals and the group and what I've watched every practice and the you know, or even to the point of how we blocked Atlanta's defensive line and joint versus
a year ago. The group itself has given me confidence because I don't base any of my thoughts or opinions on the former, former production or the former self of someone. I let them define what they are right in front of me that day. So there's the group is give me more confidence at the O line position really in general, that I've had since I've been here.
And looking at the group up and down, I mean, it's all guys that have been here for the most part for three years under head coach Mike McDaniel and Aaron Brewers new but he's probably the literally the best scheme fit in this offense in the entire National Football League from an explosive, get off the football type of perspective and his ability to create positive angles and stretch
the defense horizontally that they want to execute here. But Rob Jones in his third year in the system, Lester Cotton his third year in the system, Liam Mikenberg and his third year in the system. I mean, it's up and down the roster, Tron, Austin Jackson, the tackles like everybody's been here, you know, since the start, and that level of stability to kind of piggyback off of that
McDaniel extension talk and keeping his offensive staff intact. That proves beneficial for pretty much every team that can achieve that, And so I thought it was important to put that on tape and to go ahead and ask this question to coach about your guys's biggest investments this offseason, the offensive line, or the majority of them, I should say,
was retaining incumbents. Can you tell us about the value of continuity and chemistry on an offensive line that has to work and seek, has to work in tandem, has to understand angles and double teams, and when to catch and climb at the right spots. Here's coach McDaniel on all those topics regarding the Dolphins offensive line.
Well, particularly in the way we play football. That you would be well, I've just had the fortune of being in the same system for eighteen years and in that process you learn that it's if you prejudge something early in the process and understanding how to truly execute this scheme. If you take that as the if you take a player in year one and forecast that as being how he will be in the system, you're wrong way more
than you're right. So that uh, and then you just get so much invaluable information from each and every player when you go through the through a journey of the journey of a season. And in that you know, I know, if we didn't have the right type of a combination of people and uh skill set, we we wouldn't have just stay stayed steadfast or or the moves would probably be a lot different. I think you react to what people uh, you know, what people show you who they
are day in day out. In this in this circumstance, we had some some guys that were really buying in that started to uh make plays in their perspective, roles and assignments, and you know, uh so you you you decide that, hey, no, I want to invest in these
in these guys more. Uh what I can say honestly from uh you know, hours upon hours upon hours of instruction and then evaluation, the group has really you know, proven proven the organization right into believe in believing in them based upon how they are performing, which is, you know, I would what would be interesting is asking, uh, any any you know veteran defensive linemen on the different versions of of players that that you know, the different version
of Leah Eikenberg when when we got here into where he is now, the different version of Austin Jackson. It goes across the board, and you know, I think it speaks to even Toront Armstead is feeling more confident in his game than he ever has in his career. And you're talking about one of those guys that's one of those super athletes that is the fastest o line ever Oligneman ever at the combine in where he's at in his game, feeling more confident in playing football than he
ever has in his career. That's because there's a group of people diligently working at the craft, excited to make a name for themselves under the current version of who they are in twenty twenty four.
I want to finish up this segment with five soundbites, three from Liam Mikenberg, two from Lester Cotton. And the question posed first here to Liam was what's your perspective on the idea that the Dolphins look for different things on the offensive line that other places across the National Football League. Here was the perspective from the Dolphins fourth year offensive lineman who's played all five spots here.
I think it's all about being coachable. I think that's the biggest thing. I think a lot of guys on the O line are used to kind of just being like Malers and just grabbing guys.
And using like bruts shrine.
But I say, with this style of offense in like a wide zone, like you're talking about it, like, it's so important the technique and the fundamentals, and you need to be able to be coached into like the footwork and also like your hand placement, head placement, and I think that is like the biggest key, you know what I mean. Obviously like athletic season matters, but I think if you can't get down the get down, like the fundamentals, it's gonna be hard.
And that answer is why I think butcher Berry was so valuable and offers so much to the Dolphins franchise because he harps on those every single day and we hear the players communicate how open he is to their ideas and their interpret pations of what the Dolphins you know, schemes and fundamentals are for an offensive lineman, and that collaboration has produced, you know, good results in the first
year under butch Berry. Let's go ahead and play one more line here from Liam Eichenberg, who was asked about the positive reinforcement he heard from Chris Career last week in his press conference.
Here's Liam once again.
Yeah, I mean, I think it's it's something we work on improving on every single day. I mean, if you watch our individual I think we have a good group of guys who work hard. We care about the technique, the fundamentals, and like going out there and trying to improve every day and bringing a good attitude. And I think it matters, you know. I think I think that's like the most important thing.
You gotta love. Locker room audio don't you. Let's go ahead and finish up.
One last SoundBite here from Liam when he was discussing kind of the internal confidence of this Dolphins offensive line room.
I think I know what we're capable of, and I'm not. I don't know if they're sleeping. I have no idea, but I know we're capable of. I know we did no ts and what we did in preseason and practice, and I'm looking forward.
To the season.
So a couple of similar questions here for Lester Cotton. The first one was asked, how is this line different than what you've done in the past in your career, college, pros or otherwise.
There's an offense, Butch and Mike and Frank, they're all looking for runners. So in this in this on this team, you gotta bed and run. So your conditioner has to be top tier. Like you can't, you know, because you play like sixty plays a game, right, So you gotta be able to run for sixty plays. So that's that's that's all. That's how I see it. We're just his offense is about running, So I just try to get on my horse and run as fast as I can.
The follow up question there for Lester was a little bit louder than what he was saying, so I cut it off there. But he wants to run as fast as he can there, I didn't want to, you know, get more loud audio into your guys' ears right there. He was then also asked about preferable weight and kind of building your body for the system. And this is really good insight here, I thought from Lester Cotton, as.
An alphas alma, you always want to adjust to the scheme. So me coming from you know, duo scheme where it's just you know, just wadle off the ball, and you know what I'm saying, be heavy and fit.
I could afford to.
Be ablet heavy. I have it from Crowns right. But now I done could a lot of weight, and so I'm just trying to do what my coach is asking me to do and just try to do it as fast ability there if I can.
I wanted to play those sound bites and run through the stuff there from Lester because I just thought it was really instructive, especially when you content or when you consider where Lester was and what he showed in the preseason games this year, which looked pretty dang good to me versus you know, his first year in the system when he was trying to get things down. So I think it's worth, you know, investing in understanding the idea of growth and continuity and chemistry on this offensive line.
Last break right here, come back on the other side and run my interview with Seth Levit and OJ McDuffie talking about Fish Tank Iconic, which premiere is tomorrow night on the Dolphins YouTube channel at seven o'clock. That's next Draft Time podcast. Your host, Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, the brethren of the Dolphins podcast network, jumps back in for the first time and quite frankly too long my guesterday from the Fish Tank Podcast, Seth Levitt,
Oj McDuffie. Seth, what's going on, man, it's been it's been about a year now. We got to rectify that. I guess we're doing it right now, but we got to get you guys back on more regularly. Here.
Well, juice, it tells me something, right, Like everything is a tell you know, we're some poker players in here, and we see Travis or talk to Travis or text with Travis daily like incessantly, right all day, all night, last night. I think eleven thirty five was the last text before we all wish to each other good night and so kind of us where I sit next to him in the press box, we do the postgame show. Why is it that it does take a year or
more for us to get on the drive time? He's telling us something.
He's big time bixcepth He's a big time for us. Man. We gotta fit into his schedule, Bro, and I thank goodness we were able to do so, you know, know with this one right here. So we'll just get in when we fit in.
Bro.
That's how we were I know.
I mean, he's only doing a show every day, so it is tough to find to find an opportunity to squeeze us in now.
To be fair, I have shoehorned a few of the radio segments.
And so you guys, in spirit, your voices, thoughts are on the show, maybe not live and in the flesh here, but you know, I don't get a chance to ask you guys questions to update those types of thoughts and takes, but you're here, You're part of the podcast every single every single year we do this.
Obviously, thank you for that.
That was a great pr guy move. You might have made a good guy.
Real I've heard a few, you know, examples from yourself, from Harvey Green, from you doing oh My Guy, and speaking of that, that's that's why we have you guys here on the show today to promote, in my opinion, the best project I've seen in my five years of doing Dolphins content for the organization, and first of all, the concept. I mean, I don't want to say I'm jealous that you thought of it before I did, Seth,
because I've had the thought in my mind. I just don't have nearly the you know, patience or time or maybe even you.
Know, Rea's just not an idiot like me. Yeah, that's what it is. But thank you.
But if you guys don't know by now, Fish Tank Iconic is producing this legendary, legendary piece of content recapping the nineteen ninety four season opener when the Dolphins beat the New England Patriots in a shootout in a mud soaked field with Dan Reno coming back off the Achilles injury when not a lot of folks thought he could do it, and he sure as hell did it as
he did his entire career. Seth I just want to know about kind of the origins, the making of the thoughts behind this project, and we'll go to Jews to talk about that game in particular, but take us through how this came to be and where you are now and maybe some of the bloods that sweat in tears along the way.
There's a lot of all of that. And thanks for all the nice stuff you said. Man, We're very proud of this. We couldn't be any more exciting. And it's been well, really almost two years into making, but certainly a year of effort that has been put into this.
But it's a little bittersweet when you ask about the origins of it, because especially the timing when just a few days ago we were recognizing Jason Jenkins and as all of us here would say, he was our champion and he was the visionary behind the whole podcast network. But it was just a few weeks before we lost Jason that he reached out to me all fired up one day and he's like, all right, we're gonna have a great year, and you're gonna get this guest, and
you're gonna get that guest. But you know, I want to think about years four and five, and six and where can we go? And how can the fish tank evolve? And I don't want to change what you do, but what other things can you do? I know you and Juice have so much in your bag, and you know just in the magical way that he always made everybody
feel so special. And so, you know, Juice and I put our heads together, and I threw some ideas around and threw a few things at Jason, and the one that I was most excited about, thankfully, was the one that he loved.
And he really loved it. And he's like, I don't want to just do it. I want to make like a movie.
He's like, if I could fly you guys to you know, if we're doing something on Zanka, I want to fly to Alaska.
And he goes, but I don't have the budget for that. But that's what is Yes, if anybody could find it, right, But it was but the fact.
That you know, I was very excited about this idea, the fact that Juice was completely on board with this idea. And then when you pitch it and somebody gets even as excited or more excited than you, I mean, it only makes you want to deliver, right, And so that was kind of the inspiration. But I had watched a couple different thirty for thirties. I won't say which one motivated me because it starred somebody that we have cheered against for a long long time.
But I saw a really well done.
Thirty for thirty, I said, why can't we make these kinds of films for the Dolphins, for our history, for the things that matter to us? And I don't mean just me and Juice and you, I mean anybody who cheers for the Orange and aqua, right. And so that's where Fish Tank Iconic was born. And then it was okay, what are the iconic moments and a lot of times the low hanging fruit with the Dolphins, because there are so many iconic moments, it's very easy to point to
the undefeated season. My gosh, what is more iconic than that? The eighty five Bears game the clock play was thrown at me. But I wanted to pick some games that were indeed iconic, but not necessarily covered as in depth or as often or as frequently as some of these
other moments. And this was the first one. I think it wasn't the most meaningful game from a competitive standpoint, in Dan's career because it was a season opener, but my gosh, I think it might have been his finest performance in one of the most spectacular careers we've ever seen on the football field. So that's why we tackled this and we're pumped up for people to see it.
Yeah, I can't wait to get a chance to see the full thing. I've seen the trailer you guys produced, but I haven't seen the whole thing yet, So I'll probably take it in live with the rest of the Dolphins world on Tuesday, September the third, is seven o'clock
on the Dolphins YouTube channel, so don't miss that. We'll go ahead and say again at the end of the show here, but you know two thoughts that came to mind when you were giving that answer, Seth was number one, you know, I'm kind of this way as well, and I know that you are too, But the concept of making something like this is so difficult to finally back away and say it's done, because you're such a perfectionist and these things, and like, I just imagine that that
was a labor of love for you at certain times. And the second part for me was I remember when I had Irving Fryar back on Drive Time in twenty twenty, and you know, this was kind of when the Last Dance had just come out and there wasn't any sports, and so we kind of were diving headfirst into the looking back stuff even on Drive Time to kind of get some throwback stuff.
And you guys would come on talk about those games with me as well, and I'll.
Never forget on the fourth down touchdown for Irving, I was like, they gave you that outside release and he cut me off, he said they didn't give me ish.
I took it.
I took the outside release. If you're damn right you did, Irv, And you did definitely did that. So I want to go to you here, Juice, because you know, a decent chunk of our fan base and our audience here maybe wasn't alive in nineteen ninety four, and if they were, maybe they weren't old enough to watch football.
Why is this game so legendary From someone that was a big part of it.
Yeah, I'll tell you what, Travis. It's first of all, kudos is Seth in the team and Chris Clark and those guys that put this piece together. I mean, it's it really is a remarkable piece. And Seth, you know he wants to give some credit to others, man, but he was I mean he was all over this project, man, and you know, and put in a lot of work. Seth. He doesn't sleep, Travis. The man does not sleep man. And you know part of that is, you know, doing
different projects. Man. This is really one of his babies right here. I think just thinking back to the whole, you know, nineteen ninety two, ninety three, ninety four, when this game happened in ninety four, think about this team in ninety two they went to the AFC Championship game
and how good they were. You know, think about the team in nineteen ninety three that came back were pretty much the same piece as parts on defense, added a couple of guys like myself, Irban Friar, Terry Kirby, mark Ingram, you know, on offense, and our offense was was was sweet. And then Danny gets hurt in that game in Cleveland. We probably had our best chance, if anybody wants to look back in here, so we probably had our best chance of being unbelievable in that ninety three season. You know,
we had the defense, the young defense. We had an offense we just revamped. Unfortunately, you know, Mark Clayton and Mark Duper moved on at that point. But man, do we have some firepower to go with that, you know, to go with that defense. And so when Danny got hurt early in the season, I mean, it was it was catastrophic and literally, I mean it really was a
tough deal. We still got to like ninety two at one point, you know, and then of course we had a tough end, but we knew the loss of Dan Marino was huge in what we were trying to accomplish. No slight to Scott Mitchell, who came in and did a heck of a job, you know, leading and set the end of that season. But man if Dan Marino only about ten years in at that point, could have had an opportunity to finish out that season.
We had.
I thought we had the best opportunity to be as special as any other team has been here, you know, other than Seth talked about beforehand the seventy two team. So going into the next seat, and it was all about can we get Danny back. You know, look, I'm a rookie in ninety three. I get drafted down to Miami and Dann Marino gets hurt, you know, the beginning
of my career. I mean, come on, man, it wasn't me that you know that, Jason a little bit, but the whole thing was could Danny get back to being Danny? And we all watched him and practically watching him go through his rehab, We watched him go through all this stuff. Could Danny get back to being Danny? And uh, you know, it was a rough start, honestly, you know, the rehab process was rough. But we knew that we needed Danny to be Danny in order for us to be who
we wanted to be. And sure enough, sure enough, man, you know, coming back in that season, rough off season, rough preseason, and that game meant the world to all of us. Man, not only just you know, because of what you know, like talk about playing in the division, but we knew what it meant to Danny, and you know, we wanted him to go out there and be the best version of himself. And he didn't disappoint. He did
not disappoint. And for me, you know, it was a rough game for me because of the mud, because of the sit you but man, to see him go out there and exercise the demons out there. It was, it was. It was truly awesome.
Bro. Some of those darts that he threw.
I mean I can still picture them in my mind today on you know, grainy VHS footage that I have available of that.
Game just ripped ovailable too, by the way.
I mean, it's it's such a flashback to a different era.
And you know, Juice, you kind of touched on there, But I want to follow up and ask you about the mindset of a young receiver who you know, has the expectations of a first round pick who got you know, a handful of games with Danny in that first season, and then you know, your financial well being, your legacy as a pro is kind of on the line when your star quarterback goes down, right, because nobody knows what you have in the backup quarterback most of the time.
Take us through your headspace when you're coming back into that season from the standpoint of is my guy going to be around to you know, help me maximize my career as a Dolphin.
Yeah, you know what, man, it's a that's a great question, Travis. You know, we're all, you know, playing the ultimate team sport. You know, quote unquote, and when it comes to football, that QB one is critical to your success. It really is, man. And you know, like we talked about, talk a little bit about Scott Mitchell, but there's no other Damn Marino
in the world. I mean, there really isn't. And when you've got Dann Marino at the helm and you're counting on him to do things for everybody on the football team, you know, I mean leading the whole the whole group offense, defense, special teams. But we all knew that he was the straw that stirred to drink for the whole team. And so for me, like you know, talking about coming out of draft, like, hell, man, I'm Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, you know, Philadelphia.
What I get? I get Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino. I mean, come on, you couldn't ask for a better situation for a receiver than to go to Miami and play with Da Marino or play with Dan Marino. And so it was, it was. It was tough, man. It was tough to see him go down, for one, because you know how hard he worked at the all season in the ninety three season, and we knew how we
were rolling at that point. Man, the team was feeling real good about themselves at that point, and so, yeah, you worried about your livelihood, but you're a more importantly worry about Danny and you know how his legacy is going to be and how he's going to finish his career and if he could come back from such a devastated injury.
How about the fan perspective, big seth, because I imagine today, if you know, Tua goes down with an achilles injury and we have to spend.
The cool seasons, don't talk like that.
If we have to spend the.
Whole year, you know, watching a backup quarterback and then hoping that next year he can come back. I can't imagine those fourteen months or whatever would be on social media of back and forth. What was the sentimental like around around Dolphins fans albeit you know, in the pre social media era, what was that like for you as a Dolphins fan scene?
You know, the demand go down?
Yeah, I mean devastating.
You know, you'll hear some of the guys that we spoke with talk about it was like the sky had fallen. I used the term Superman fell from the sky, you know, I mean that really was was like, wait a second, how is Superman laying on the ground. That's what it felt like. And the other thing I have to remember is Dan Marino's rookie year was nineteen ninety nineteen eighty three,
So now you're talking nineteen ninety three. It wasn't like he was in his fourth year and he's going to bounce back and we see, you know, you know Jalen Phillips, that we see the way he's recovering, and he looks like talk about Superman, right, I mean, he just looks like he was built from a lab, as you like
to say. But this was a guy who was in his eleventh season and it had knee surgeries and wasn't exactly you know, the arm Juicy said all the time, I'm hearing everything that was in the documentary now, but the arm was always golden. But the body did everything it could to get ready for Sundays. And so for Dan to have an injury like that at that era where we didn't have the science, the technology, the rehab, all of the things that were there, and he had
some issues in recovering as well. There were some things that they had to go back in and do and address and so on. So it was I mean, you kind of held your breath and you never ever thought that the Dolphins would ever play a game again without Dan Marino. And then it hit in the face that that, wait a second, maybe they'll never play another game with him. So all of that led to the build up to this game, and that's one of the things that was so special about it.
The game. Rarely does a game live up to the build up when we what.
Is probably in this team's that this current generation's team with the game that jumps out at everybody is the Baltimore game, the comeback to a throwing six touchdowns, He's got hell that all of that stuff. No one going into that game expected that it would be a game that got people will talk about thirty years from now. But this game had all of the build up it had,
you know, we just put it in the promo. You had Parcels against Shula, You had two new owners in Heisinga and Craft, and then certainly you know Dan Marino and could he come back with the young gun going against the young Gunslinger and Drew Bledsoe. So all of those factors were there heading into this game. Build up was there and somehow the actual performance exceeded the hype. That doesn't happen often.
I want to finish up with you guys here about the making of because Seth you touched on it with you know just how much went into this and how many people did you talk to to get testimonials from.
I don't know if it was sixteen seventeen. I mean it's quite a list. So you know, first of all, ain't tell me you have Dan Marino. It's already You've got a home run there. But so you got Dan Marino and Juice, you know that we were going to be fine. We got Drew Bledsoe. I mean, how cool was it for Anne Nolan to reach out to Stacy James at the Patriots and Drew was like, I can't wait to talk about that game. He was incredible. This would not have been the same without Drew Bledsoe's voice
in it. Of course, you mentioned Irving Friar. IRV might have stole the show.
You know, he was.
Was it iceman to Danny's Maverick in this thing? I mean, he was the ultimate wingman in this game and certainly in this interview. But it wasn't just the guys on the field, and Terry Kirby and Richmond Webb and Jeff Allen. I mean, all those guys were there and were great in this, but it was also the people that were around it.
My former boss.
You hear Harvey Green in the promo. I mean, Harvey was incredible. Tony Eguist does his effort to steal the show, you know, his equipment manager and talks about what he had to do just to strap the mud out of Danny's.
Cleats between every series.
So Jim Lampley, you know who called the game for NBC, Bill's infer who called the game was his first Can you imagine you talked about Travis your first experience. So Bill's infor comes from Penn State. Shout out the Penn State choose But you guys ran in a different style of offense. You are a great blocking receiver because of your Penn State experience, right, I mean we can't argue that. And so Bill's infor comes from Penn State, he shows up, gets his first NFL job, and the first game that
he calls in the NFL is this. I mean, could you imagine that? So Bill was great on this. Greg Cody, who was one of the most public doubters of maybe not necessarily doubting Dan if you actually have the conversation with Greg, but wondering if it's time.
To move on. And he said that, and he's lived with that column to this day.
Dave Hye, Mike Mayos, So, all of these voices are important, and I think when you're doing a project like this, what I've come to learn is that you need to hear every perspective. We all remember fourth and five, we all remember the Mud, but what else was going on that day? And I think that's what we tried to capture here and then. While you'll never hear his voice, Juice mentioned him earlier. Chris Clark, who edited this and essentially co directed and co wrote the Thing with Me,
is a star of this show as well. I have to say that because the work that he put in and his gift for telling stories visually in this way, he's definitely now a third member of the fish tank, whether he likes it or not.
I love that.
By the way, the reason I was giggling there Juice that entire time was because when Seth mentioned Drew BLEDSOE was about.
To hit you with the go Koogs and then for you, Jews got the we are before I could get in.
Trying to give you guys both a little bit of love that's just.
Too freaking good.
So yeah, man, you know I want to I want to put a bowl on this and conclude with what I talked about with you guys last night via text.
You know this is gonna be awesome. I can't wait to see it.
I'm excited that I get a chance to watch it with our fan base, you know, when it rolls out, and I don't want to see it before that, so I'm looking forward to that.
On what do you say we all live tweet if you're gonna watch it in real time at seven pm?
Do you like that? All right?
So if you're listening to Drive Time, which is like everybody it listens to Drive Time. So so Jews, Travis and I we will live tweet during this. We'll try not to bother Travis too much because he hasn't seen it yet. Juice and I actually know what's going to happen, so you.
Can forecast ahead for you guys. But now I'm gonna take it a live and hopefully my kids allow that to happen. At anock, which is usually usually go time around the house.
Right, exactly right.
But what I to conclude, I just wanted to tell you guys, same thing I told you via text, like you should be very very very proud of this project. It is I've you know, just just the promotion alone, I can tell we've got a high quality product here. Dolphins fans are deserving of content like this, the thirty for thirty approach with these types of things like come on that that's the fish tank at its core and
you guys crushed it. And adding this you know component where it's more of a movie like the great Jason Jenkins once told you, I think is a perfect way to do it.
So hats off to you guys.
I'll give you the final word here, but YouTube on Tuesday, septime, the third, seven o'clock.
That's tomorrow. Record miss ahead of time, but it's tomorrow when this episode comes out, so do not miss it.
Let's go ahead and pump those numbers up and show these guys the love they deserve for the for the job well done.
So you guys are the best. Thanks for jumping on the show here.
With you guys, and hey, we got what eighteen, nineteen twenty more weeks of radio together, so looking.
Forward to at least at least twenty travers at least twenty that's.
Right, don't stop there, good stuff, fellow Seth levit Oja McDuffie The fish Tank Podcast every Tuesday and season and of course this legendary documentary A fish Tank Iconic the nineteen ninety four he's an opener. Dan Marino outduels Drew Brees go Koog's thanks for coming on the show here, guys, appreciate.
Y'all, Thanks to Travis, Thanks Jrev, and.
Away they go.
Fun chat with those guys again. Don't miss it tomorrow night, YouTube channel seven o'clock on the Dolphins YouTube channel. Fish Tank Iconic nineteen eighty four. He's an opener against the England Patriots. Let's go ahead and call it a show
right there. Long one today, no podcast tomorrow. We're coming back on Wednesday and then the Thursday preview edition the first of the year, taking a look at the Jacksonville Jaguars opening the hood and finding out the keys to victory and this season opening game against the n State Rivals. Until then, until next time, that's going to be my time you all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast. Leave us are wading, lea us a review. You can follow me on social at Wingfold NFL and the team
at Miami Dolphins. Check out those guys on the Fish Tank podcast. Check out the YouTube channel for the brand new television show Dolphins HQ, also on CBS Miami here locally in the market, and last button not.
Least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Until next time, fins up, Carolin and Cameron Daddy's Coming Home MHM.